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Jacoby Jones: 'if I was (Tomlin), I'd do the same thing'

Mike Tomlin being slightly on the field during a Jacoby Jones return will likely get dissected within an inch of his life. The reality is, Jones should simply have followed a mantra once common in this game - hit whomever is in your way on the field.

By Neal Coolong
Rob Carr

In what's destined to be another microcosm of an entire game boiled down for the knee-jerk overreaction from the NFL community, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wandered out half a foot onto the field, and somehow, robbed the Baltimore Ravens of any and all momentum.

Punt returner Jacoby Jones was being chased by Cortez Allen down the Steelers' sideline, and Tomlin appears to have about half his foot on the field. Jones either sees Tomlin on the field, and for whatever reason, swerves to avoid him, costing himself a slight down tick in momentum, or Allen just happens to catch him.

Tomlinhop_medium_medium

"I always watch the returns on the jumbotron," Tomlin said after the game. "It provides a better perspective for me. I lost my placement as he broke free. I saw it at the last second and saw how close I was to the field of play."

Either way, the fact Tomlin was looking at the Jumbotron, watching the play, thus making himself guilty, according to Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who said after the game Tomlin "pulled my move," a wink to Flacco having been accused of the same thing last season.

In the same video clip, Jones admits he saw Tomlin, and it gave him some pause for thought, "is he gonna move?"

For the record, if Jones hits Tomlin in that instance, he could be rewarded with a touchdown for interference. The replay would easily support such a charge.

So instead of rewarding Tomlin for his unfortunate choice of location on the play (or shrewd act of passive-aggressive strategy, with the likely opinion being decided based on which side of the rivalry one is on), perhaps Jones should just barrel into him at full speed, triggering what would likely have been the biggest fight in the history of this rivalry.

If he made it out of the scrum alive, he probably would have been given the touchdown. Instead, as he said, he was merely caught from behind.

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